100 Closings Year To Date: May 15, 2013

FuldaOn July 27, 2012 I wrote this post about our team closing 100 real estate sides year to date (remember, there are 2 sides to every deal). At the time Amanda, team manager Amy Cartin, and I were stunned at the number of transactions and the pace. Fast forward to 2013.

On Wednesday, May 15, 2013 I’m proud and incredibly humbled to report that we closed our 100th side of the year.

While I was with my friends/sellers at an event tonight I asked them,  “Hey since y’all are #100, can I swipe a pic from Facebook and throw it on the blog?”  “Of course, send me a link,” they answered.  HA!   When I saw the pic above I thought I’d have some fun, but may end up switching out the pic above for a photo of the house itself.   We’ll see!

Last year seemed like such a big deal that we had a party to celebrate. If you remember, we booked The Oyster Bar and invited all of our 2012 clients, referral sources, lender partners, and closing attorneys to dine and drink on us, thanking them for helping us hit the first 100 so quickly. It was a big time! Well, seems as though we’ve picked up the tempo again.

While I’m not sure of everything that closed on Wednesday (it was either nine or 12 depending on how Coldwell Banker booked three of the buyer sides), I do know that 2600 Heyward St. in Shandon was at 9:30AM. At 11 we all met on Devine Street to close both sides of 11 Copperfield Court, which is in The Hamptons (Amanda had the seller, I had the buyer). At 12:30 Amy and I traveled to another law firm and closed 3 Worchester Ct. (also in The Hamptons). There ya go…100 for the year.

I need to thank Wilson Co. (97), Frazier Wilson (not related, I don’t think) (98), Drew and Tori Mobley (99), and John Eric and Barbie Fulda (100) for making Wednesday happen.

As you know Amanda, Amy, Thomas, and I love our jobs and try to make all of our clients proud. That said, we have a ton of work to do including procuring offers for anxious sellers and finding the right home for buyers. Good grief typing this makes me want to unplug this laptop and head to Midtown!

I wouldn’t be a good REALTOR if I didn’t include a call to action…so here goes! If you or anyone you know is interested in buying or selling real estate in the Midlands, or would like a comparative market analysis or simply discuss options, please call 803-758-1669 or email fjones@cbunited.com or amandaqpayne@live.com .

As Amanda texted me in July of last year, “Here’s to the next 1,000!”

Thank you for being the best real estate network in South Carolina.

FJ

Inventory Is Moving In The Midlands…

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Mackays6CopperfieldWhittakerWhile I obviously post about real estate all the time, every now and then I like to break it down to a super local level. While MLS rules won’t let me report everything that’s closed, I can surely post what’s going on within our team. After all, every homeowner likes to know what’s going on in their neighborhood. Enter the pics above.

While we presently have a few dozen seller sides Pending Contract, 3215 Blossom St., 3 Worchester Court, 3812 Macgregor, 6 Mackays Point in King’s Grant, 11 Copperfield Ct., 1326 Whittaker Dr. are a good collection/snapshot of what’s happening in the downtown Columbia, SC real estate market. What am I getting at? If a home is in “move-in ready” condition and sports a fair asking price, you may want to start packing your stuff.

This all said, if you or anyone you know is thinking of selling please call 803-758-1669 or email fjones@cbunited.com. We’d love to provide you or any potential seller with a comparative market analysis. It’s what we do!

Thank you!

FJ

Listing Alert: ‘Worchester’ Coming Soon!

WorchesterTrue to form I want my clients and readers of this blog to be ahead of the curve. That said, keep an eye out for a pretty awesome home to enter Columbia’s real estate market in the next coming days.

3 Worchester Court is nestled in a fun cul-de-sac within the popular “Hamptons” neighborhood in 29209. As you can see, “Worchester’s” front facade has a ton of pop from the street and features three stories and five full bedrooms. The exterior is made of hardi-board (hardiplank) and the interior is full of good stuff like a granite slab kitchen.

This house has a stellar screened porch with tile floor, and adjacent open air deck that overlooks a nice backyard with full playset. To the right of the home is an awesome storage building that contains a separate panel box electrical system. It’s cool.

If you or anyone you know would like to know more about 3 Worchester Court, please call 447-8683 or email fjones@cbunited.com or amandaqpayne@live.com .

“Worchester” will officially hit the market on Monday and will be offered in the $335,000 price range.

Thank you!

FJ

Fun Easter Weekend W/ Fam & Friends

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As real estate goes it was a pretty uneventful weekend. Other than showing a few listings Saturday afternoon and setting up some inspections, pretty much everything in the Midlands revolved around Easter and The Carolina Cup.

As fun as The Cup can be, this year we were all about Easter festivities. Saturday morning began with The First Baptist Church Easter Egg Hunt at Heathwood Park. I couldn’t believe the crowd. While finding one egg would’ve been a success for my little girl, she found enough to hide behind a tree with new found friends and sneak all the Starburst and Skittles she could stuff in her little mouth. Finley had a huge time, and so did her daddy.

The pic above with the bubbles is lunch afterwards with The Paynes at Henrys on Devine. Obviously, chicken fingers took a back seat to bubbles with friends.

The second egg hunt of the day was in the park adjacent to Meadwofield Elementary School. Tons of kids from The Hamptons and Olde Woodlands neighborhood packed the park.

We rounded out the night at Ava Gunn’s house. While Finley and Ava have met before, they rekindled their friendship Friday night at Cafe Caturra. The entire next day Finley asked where Ava was. At the “HOW” (Hampton’s/Old Woodlands) egg hunt Ava took Finley under her wing and Finley loved it. As you can see, the night ended up with cupcake icing everywhere.

Sunday morning was all Easter at First Baptist Church – Columbia, SC.

Fantastic family weekend.

FJ

Believe SOME Of The Hype. It’s True…

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If you’ve heard or read about an uptick in the real estate market, believe it – a lot of it, anyway.  While we’re not likely to ever see the likes of 2005 again (and that’s OK), homes are fetching contracts in downtown Columbia.

The pics above represent some of our inventory that currently enjoy the coveted “Pending Contract” label.   While I couldn’t put every listing on this post, you get the idea.  Rosebank, Wilmot, Girardeau, Thames, Devereaux, Shandon St, Linwood, Devereaux, Adger, and Congaree are a good snapshot of what’s moving in downtown Columbia, South Carolina.  This quick collection of homes are located within a small geographic proximity of each other which includes The Hamptons, Shandon, Forest Hills, Heathwood, and Wales Garden ranging in price levels of $175,000 – $950,000, respectively.

I don’t want to paint too rosy of a picture here, as the real estate world is far from perfect.  That said, if you’re thinking of putting a move-in ready home on the market, this may be the time to pull the trigger.  To illustrate, we have three families renting at 42 Magnolia and 1 family renting in Forest Hills that are all searching for their perfect four bedroom home in certain school zones.   This glut in the market is a whole ‘nother blog post, but now that I’ve put it out there please call 447-8683 if you know of anything coming to market!

Congratulations to the collection of sellers above.  Hopefully we can turn the “Pending Contract” signs riders into shiny red ones that read “CLOSED!”

FJ